Death of former RTÉ set-designer who is fondly remembered in Mayo

The death has taken place of Jim O’Hare, Frogshall, Northrepps, Norfolk.

News of his passing has evoked much sadness and regret in Castlebar, where he is remembered fondly.

Jim was a key member of the RTÉ team that visited the town each year during the Castlebar International Song Contest.

His role was as a set-designer and his stage creations for the event won widespread praise and several awards.

During a long career with RTÉ, his designs included the set for the ‘Hall’s Pictorial Weekly’ TV programme which he said was inspired by his first visit to Castlebar and the conditions he encountered in the old offices of The Connaught Telegraph at Cavendish Lane.

However, he is probably best known as the designer on the popular series ‘Wanderley Wagon’.

His annual visits to Castlebar as part of his work on the Song Contest saw him become a hugely popular figure around the town.

This was because of his friendly nature and his effervescent good humour.

He contributed a chapter to the book ‘History of the Castlebar International Contest’ which is a hilarious recall of the event and the town during the 1970s and 1980s.

- Paddy McGuinness